We all have our own little pet peeves when it comes to playing Roleplaying games, especially if we’re the GM. You might hate people being on their phone at the table. You might have it when people don’t listen or pay attention. Maybe your least favourite thing is tardiness and a lack of commitment. Whatever it is, the Perpetrators deserve to be punished. That is why we have put together these punishment tables.
I know people are against punishing in game characters for the transgressions of their real life counterparts, so I created a table both for punishing PCs and Players alike.
It is up to you how you use these tables. You could assign misdeeds a value and look that value up on either (or both) of the charts to determine the punishment. You could say that any misdeed is punished by the player rolling a D100 to determine the punishment. Alternatively you could just decide yourself which punishment you feel is most appropriate.
So without further ado, here are our tables for punishing players when they upset the GM:
In game punishments
| 01 – 25 | Your character doesn’t notice a hole in their pocket. Lose 5GP |
| 26 – 30 | Your character walks into a low hanging branch – 10 hits |
| 31 – 40 | Your character tries to kick a small rock but accidentally trips on a medium sized rock and wangs their head on a big rock – 25 hits |
| 41 – 50 | Your character isn’t paying attention – 5 to initiative |
| 51 – 60 | Your character trips over a particularly lethargic rabbit and sprains their ankle. -5 to BMR |
| 61 – 65 | Your character is robbed in the night and their favourite weapon / item is stolen |
| 66 | For the rest of the session, your character is followed around by a sarcastic crow (voiced by the GM) who mocks everything you do. – 5 to initiative, -5 to skill rolls, -5 to RR |
| 67 – 70 | Your character donates all their belongings to charity (This could create a nice little side quest to recover items that are game critical. All other items can be considered lost for good) |
| 71 – 80 | The next time one of the party is attacked, your character throws themselves in front of their comrade and takes the blow regardless of the consequences or how unrealistic it is that the character would have made it to the attacker in time. |
| 81 – 85 | The GM rolls for you (behind the screen) for the remainder of the session. Only they will know how harshly you are being punished |
| 86 – 90 | Instead of 2 D10s, all your roles will now be with 2 D6s for the rest of the session |
| 91 – 95 | The next creature(s)/monster(s) you come across take a personal interest in ending your character’s life, disregarding the rest of the party |
| 96 – 99 | At some point (and you won’t know when) the GM will decide that your character has suffered a piece of terrible bad luck. The effects of this bad luck are up to the GM and when it will happen… Well, it may be today, it may be tomorrow, or it may be when you least expect it. |
| 100 | Your character trips over an invisible dead turtle and bangs their head hard. They are unconscious for the rest of the session. |
Out of game punishments
| 01 – 25 | You must give the GM your phone for the rest of the session |
| 26 – 30 | You may not eat any more snacks while playing |
| 31 – 40 | You must bring snacks and drinks for all players and twice as much for the GM at the next session |
| 41 – 50 | You must tweet “I must pay attention while playing games with my friends” every minute for ten minutes (during a break obviously) |
| 51 – 60 | You must give the GM your phone for the rest of the day |
| 61 – 65 | You must play the rest of the session putting on an accent of the GMs choosing (the GM may choose to change the accent at their will) |
| 66 | You must play the rest of the game in a silly hat/silly outfit/your underwear (GMs choice) |
| 67 – 70 | No more chair for you. Spend the rest of the session sitting on the floor |
| 71 – 80 | You may only talk if you raise your hand and the GM asks your opinion |
| 81 – 85 | At the end of the session you must sum up what happened through the medium of dance. If the GM decides you didn’t do an adequate job, you must do it again at the next session |
| 86 – 90 | The GM gets to write a message on your phone and send it to a random number |
| 91 – 95 | You must spend the rest of the session stood up |
| 96 – 99 | Your toilet privileges are rescinded |
| 100 | Leave now and come back next time with a better attitude |